Demographics of Gulf War-era II veterans

August 05, 2010

In 2009, Gulf War-era II veterans—those who had served in the Armed Forces sometime since September 2001 and had returned to civilian life—were more likely to have some college but no degree (33 percent) than were nonveterans (19 percent).

Among Gulf War-era II veterans in 2009, 31 percent of veterans aged 18 to 24 years were enrolled in school. As for older Gulf War-era II veterans, about 19 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds had a college degree, compared with 35 percent of 35- to 44-year-olds and 38 percent of 45- to 54-year-olds.

Veterans from Gulf War-era II were much less likely to be high school dropouts (2 percent) than were nonveterans (14 percent). About 25 percent of recent veterans had a college degree, as did a similar percentage of nonveterans.

In 2009, 82 percent of all Gulf War-era II veterans were men while 18 percent were women. In contrast, the nonveteran population had a greater percentage of women (56 percent) than men (44 percent) in 2009.

In 2009, 18- to 54-year-olds accounted for 95 percent of all Gulf War-era II veterans, whereas that same age group made up about 7 in 10 nonveterans. Among recent veterans, 63 percent of men and 72 percent of women were under the age of 35, compared with 37 percent of nonveteran men and 29 percent of nonveteran women.